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Ridgewood council adopts 2026 Business Alliance budget after hospital raises legal concerns
Summary
The Village Council adopted the 2026 Ridgewood Business Alliance special-improvement-district budget after a public hearing in which Valley Health System's general counsel argued the hospital’s assessment could be unfair and asked the council to review inclusion criteria; business-alliance leaders defended the district and the budget passed by roll call.
The Village of Ridgewood on Nov. 12 adopted the 2026 budget for the Ridgewood Business Alliance special‑improvement district after a public hearing during which Valley Health System urged the council to revisit how nonprofit properties were assessed.
Robin Goldfisher, senior vice president and general counsel for Valley Health System, told the council the hospital appears to be a rare nonprofit that was included in the district assessment roll and suggested that selective application of the special‑improvement assessment could raise fairness and legal concerns under New Jersey law. "Given the Valley Hospital's operations are medical and charitable in nature, not commercial or retail, it's difficult to see how the hospital will receive any special benefit from downtown marketing or business promotion activities," Goldfisher said, and she requested that the council clarify the criteria used to determine which entities are included and which are exempted.
Representatives of the Ridgewood Business Alliance, including board president Glenn Carlo and consultant Stuart Coppawise, said the special‑improvement district is the culmination of two years of work and defended the decision to include certain tax‑exempt properties in the district based on the board's assessment of organizational structure and benefit. "If anybody wants to challenge the improvement district or the ordinance, they can ask the council to exempt them," Coppawise said.
After a brief discussion, the council closed the public hearing and adopted the Business Alliance's 2026 budget by roll call. During the hearing several residents and business‑district supporters spoke in favor of the district and thanked Deputy Mayor Pam Perrin and volunteers for their work preparing the ordinance and budget.
Council members who voted in favor stated they supported the budget as written and said the alliance will continue to evolve. The resolution adopting the 2026 budget was read and approved as required under NJSA 40:56‑84 for special improvement districts.
The action triggers a review path for any property owner who seeks exemption: the transcript records that an entity can petition the council to be exempted and that a re‑mapping or schedule change would be required to remove a property from the district.
The council did not resolve the legal concerns raised by Valley Health System during the meeting; Goldfisher requested that the council review the ordinance's application to ensure consistency across similarly situated nonprofit organizations. Council staff and the Business Alliance said they would continue engagement with stakeholders and indicated the budget would support downtown marketing and beautification efforts.
